''Frog and Toad Together'' is an American fantasy adventure children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, written and illustrated by

Arnold Lobel Arnold Stark Lobel (May 22, 1933 – December 4, 1987) was an American author of children's books, including the '' Frog and Toad'' series and '' Mouse Soup''. He wrote and illustrated these picture books as well as ''Fables'', a 1981 Caldecott M ...

and published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in 1972. It is the second book in the ''Frog and Toad'' series. Like each of the other books in the series, it contains five easy-to-read short stories.

Summaries

A List

Toad writes a list of activities for himself and Frog for the day. However, when the list is lost during a windy hike, the two spend the rest of the day trying to remember what the other activities were. At night, Toad remembers the final one was "Go to sleep" and the two do so, now content.

The Garden

Toad admires Frog's garden, and wishes to grow one of his own. After expending a considerable effort to grow his seeds, seemingly to accomplish nothing, Toad almost gives up. At the end, he realizes they're finally starting to sprout. Toad agrees that gardening is hard work.

Cookies

Frog and Toad indulge in some home-baked cookies, but decide to use will-power to resist eating too many. Eventually they take it too far, by feeding the remainder of them to the birds.

Dragons and Giants

After reading some adventurous stories, Frog and Toad embark on an adventure of their own by climbing a large mountain. Encountering several dangers along the way, they return home in fear, still commending each other for their bravery.

The Dream

Toad has a dream, in which he performs several feats onstage to an audience consisting solely of Frog. However, each feat causes Frog to gradually shrink to nothing, to Toad's horror. He awakens to find Frog unharmed and normal-sized, much to his relief.

Reception

''Frog and Toad Together'' was a Newbery Honor Book, or runner-up for the American Library Association

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

, which recognizes the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".

Adaptations

''Frog and Toad Together'' was adapted into a film with

Will Ryan William Frank Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film ''The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner ...

and Hal Smith providing the voices of Frog and Toad. The first story, "A List", is not included.

References

External links

* {{isfdb name, 176002, Arnold Lobel 1972 children's books American picture books Newbery Honor-winning works Books about frogs Children's books about friendship Picture books by Arnold Lobel Harper & Row books